music
Remembering James Phillips
Queen of the Ivory Keys
The Pacifi c Northwest lost one of its musical voices on Valentine’s Day, with the passing of musician and
educator James Phillips. The Texas-born saxophone player spent the last two years of his life battling metastatic
melanoma while working as a grade school principal in the suburbs of Portland. Though well-known as a teacher,
music fans will more likely recall him as an early member of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies.
In 1988, when the Daddies formed, swing music was the farthest thing from cool, but Phillips helped sculpt
jazzy horn lines on records like Ferociously Stoned that fl ipped a middle fi nger at the growing commercialization
of the I-5 corridor’s rock scene. Dana Heitman, trumpeter for the band, told me “James contributed immensely
to the personality of the band ... He established that horns could and should rock as hard as the guitar and
drums.” I fi rst saw Phillips perform at WOW Hall, circa 1989, when the Daddies would pack venues and put on
shows that I can only describe as gonzo punk-art theater (full disclosure: I became a member of the band a few
years later, and logged many hours touring and playing with James around 1995-6). I remember eight stellar
musicians backed by a surrealist light show, in rooms that threatened to buckle from the inertia of volume and
sweating bodies. Phillips was an integral part of the whole wild aesthetic, playing blazing saxophone runs while
dressed in bright colors. His style referenced jazz, funk and punk rock.
Eventually Phillips opted to make teaching his priority, having earned a master’s degree at the University
of Oregon. After a series of public school gigs he found a home at Sandy Grade School in 2007, where he was
much loved by students, parents and fellow teachers. In an era fi lled with layoffs and budget cuts in our public
schools, Phillips was a great example of how an educator can introduce students to living art. His obituary in
the Sandy Post is enlightening more so for the comments it generated than for the article itself. Patti Hardy,
parent of a student at Cottage Grove Middle School where Phillips once taught, posted, “You have left your
legacy in my children. The music and passion you inspired in them continues to live on today.” Heitman echoed
the sentiments mentioned above, saying that Phillips’ “truest legacy ... would be all the lives he touched as an
educator, and as a principal.” A large banner, displayed at his life celebration on the grounds of the Sandy school,
proclaimed his motto: “Have a great day or not, the choice is yours.” — Jason Moss
It is said that Gabriela Montero began playing piano at age
0. That is, she was just seven months old when she fi rst laid her
fi nger on a key and by eighteen months she’d already learned
to play the National Anthem of Venezuela — her country of
origin. Montero’s forte is, undoubtedly, improvisation — a talent
that she supplements with an unbelievable ear for music. She
can improvise around the structure of anything from piano
masterpieces such as Rachmaninoff’s “Third Piano Concerto”
and Chopin’s “Nocturne in C minor,” to standards like “Happy
Birthday” and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.” It’s this skill that
truly separates her as one of the greatest and most versatile
classical pianists of our time.
Montero has charm, elegance and grace both in her
playing and the way she carries herself. She can effectively
pull an audience into the experience of classical piano while
maintaining the poise of a truly great show-woman. Montero’s
Jaqua Concert Hall performance will be a solo recital to back
the release of her 2010 recording Solatino. The album itself
is a collection of Latin American compositions taken in by
Montero and made all her own. In a recent interview about
the collection, Montero described the recording process as “a
voyage of who we are and what we’re made of, and the way
that we express ourselves.”
Gabriela Montero will play at 7:30 pm Friday, April 29, at
the Jaqua Concert Hall; $12-$36. — Andy Valentine
New-Old Tuvan Music
Over the years, Eugene has played host to a few different Tuvan throat singing groups, including Alash
Ensemble, who last performed here with Bela Fleck at the Shedd in November of 2010. They’re back, this time
on their own at WOW Hall.
Tuvan throat singing is hauntingly beautiful, and equally hard to explain to those who have never heard
the singing technique before. The way most people sing creates just one pitch. Throat singing, or overtone
singing, allows one singer to create two, three or even four distinct pitches at the same time. A skilled throat
singer can hold a sustained note while humming a higher melody and a lower tone all at once. Now imagine a
chorus of people singing in this way, and you can come close to understanding the stunning sounds created by
throat singing groups. Tuvan singers often accompany themselves on decorative stringed instruments called
doshpuluur or chanzy which can be plucked as banjos or played with a bow as a cello.
The tradition arose in the tiny republic of Tuva, at the southern edge of Siberia, among the nomadic
herdsmen of central Asia. Alash Ensemble have embraced Western musical traditions more so than other Tuvan
groups; though the four members have been steeped in traditional Tuvan music since childhood, they also might
incorporate Western instruments or contemporary harmonies and song forms. Their collaborations with Fleck
on his 2008 holiday album Jingle All The Way and legendary jazz band Sun Ra Arkestra are examples of their
diverse twists on such traditional music.
On their own, they sing songs about women and love, the power and pride of horsemanship, and the desolate
beauty of Tuvan landscapes. Though their music is inspired by nature, it is indeed otherworldly.
Alash Ensemble plays at 8 pm Sunday, May 1, at WOW Hall; $13 adv., $15 door. — Vanessa Salvia
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EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 28, 2011 29